Weaving livelihood through organic cotton
see this :
http://www.thehindu.com/sci-
let me produce the original write up that inspired this piece in the Hindu:
http://www.thehindu.com/sci-
let me produce the original write up that inspired this piece in the Hindu:
Weaving livelihood
through organic cotton
The route was green and serene. One found very few vehicles
on the roads. There was even a cycle repair shop on the roadside, which is such
a rarity these days, unfortunately. That is interior Odisha for you. We were
headed to a unique village in Odisha’s Kalahandi district.
As soon as one enters
the village, there is a hand pump with a concrete base around it. This is one
of the busiest spots of the village. All infants and toddlers of the village,
placed in big buckets of water, were getting scrubbed by mothers and
grandmothers at the same time, with much fun and frolic all around.
There was a small
shop, the likes of which directors like Maniratnam would portray. That cute
little shop with innumerable diversity of products was bustling with activity.
The fences of most houses made from bamboo were a picture of intricate design
and art. One could see vermi-compost beds strewn here and there.
That is the hero of
our story today -Tentulipada village in Bhawanipatna block of Kalahandi
district, a village that is completely organic! While there are still villages
in these parts of the country, which are “default organic” so to speak,
Tentulipada made conscious efforts to come back to being fully organic.
This predominantly
rainfed village went organic since 2007, when initially 39 farmers took to
sustainable practice. It took two more years for all the farmers to shift to
organic in toto. They all recall with
so much bewilderment how in 2001 American bollworm infestation was very high
and even 15 sprays of toxic chemical pesticides wouldn’t help. Today, this
village does not worry about pests on its crops.
These interior parts of Odisha known for their poverty and
hardship have very uncooperative climate for agriculture. Enabling economically
and ecologically sustainable agriculture and ensuring a dignified and improved
livelihood for farmers here is indeed an uphill task.
However, this was made possible with committed effort and
intense dialogues with and amongst farmers. Tentulipada had moved into a
certain kind of gambling by shifting towards cotton cultivation a couple of
decades ago. The gamble on the crop was accompanied by a baggage of external,
expensive and often toxic inputs in the form of pesticides and fertilizers.
This is when Chetna Organic, an organization based in
Hyderabad, came into the picture. The organization dialogued with the farmers
and began the shift towards organic cultivation of crops. While initially the
focus was on cotton, today, all crops are covered. Chetna Organic brought in
much more than just sustainable agriculture. While mixed cropping, integrated
approach, crop rotation, sustainable and biological practices and
self-consumption-first were the focus, they also brought in very valuable principles
like natural resources management, food and nutrition security, seed
sovereignty, child welfare & education. Thus the whole idea of improving
livelihoods with sustainable agriculture was approached in a holistic fashion.
The value chain development for instance is very impressive.
Most of the changes came about due to institutional changes
created. Farmers were federated into groups and were involved in the whole
process of the value chain. Cotton being cotton, the value chain was long and
the monetary gains were appreciable too!
The production of healthy food happened due to mixed farming
that was considered and professed as sacred by the NGO. That it resulted in
self-consumption of healthy food was not incidental but planned. I could really
count dozens of vegetables, pulses and other grains that these farmers were
growing, as they narrated to me. What’s more – the local administration bought
organic dal from the farmers’ federation to feed such safe food to children in
the school. Safe food for the poorest happened so easily, meticulously!
What also showed was the palpable self-esteem and
confidence. Almost all of the farmers carried the same conviction and interest.
They were very proud of the fact that their own local cooperatives and national
level producer company employed management graduates by paying really good salaries.
Their CEO, an employee, hired by the farmers’ cooperative is paid on par with the
private sector/ MNC paychecks. Please note, my dear readers, that cheque is
being signed by two farmers (as board of directors)! I was also told that all
their groups and cooperatives function very democratically.
It was very invigorating to see the huge storage spaces and local
processing units built by the farmers for their own use. The processing centres
are specifically for the food crops (like dal processing). It was so heartening to see the women partake
in both manual and mechanical processing of the organic food produce.
The well-thought-out and trained village institutions work
on both social and technical arenas, as the work with women’s self help groups
shows. The organisational systems that
have been developed for planning, monitoring, documenting, building
institutions, addressing issues of women farmers, setting up the resource
centres are very impressive and highly functional.
Then there is the ‘Chetna Organic Agriculture Producer Company’
that works on training, certifying and establishing sustainable market
linkages. The latter is the backbone as it is essential to have a successful
market to bring about sustained interest and more farmers to join in. The
produce goes into branded garments in India and abroad.
The next day, after driving through a breathtaking forest,
we went to their crop research & conservation center -experimental farm
& nursery in Lanjigarh. This farm had a number of cotton seed varieties
being conserved and multiplied, in addition to various Pulses, Mustard, Ragi,
Maize, Niger, Paddy, forest plants, fruits and vegetables. This 4.5 acres plot
has more than 450 varieties of cotton under observation/trial, including many Herbaceums,
Arboreums, Barbadense and Hirsutums as well as some hybrid varieties. The ones
that perform well here are then taken to the farmers’ fields. The demo sites,
nursery, compost yard, mixed cropping trial plots all are as real as they get.
No wonder that so many visitors ranging from agriculture students, professors,
DOA officials throng to this research centre.
Chetna Organic works with farmers in Andhra Pradesh,
Maharashtra and Odisha. In Odisha alone, Chetna works in 5 Districts, having 5
Co-operatives, operating out of 132 Villages impacting 5,683 farmers who in
turn are in the form of 411 SHGs! Arun
Ambatipudi, one of the founders and pillars of Chetna is so modest, one can
hardly get more information about him or his perspiration and successes.
Talking to the farmers one can make out how much he and his team have strived
and the path he has travelled this far is amazing.
We all know collectivization is the key for improvement of livelihood
for small farmers. Here the functional producer companies – ‘of the farmer, by
the farmer, for the farmer’ stood as a solid proof. The other major point established out here is
that sustainable agriculture is the only way out for small and marginal
farmers. How the whole cycle of sustainable production, integrated farming
system, livelihood, social aspects, seed sovereignty fall in place is captured
in this invaluable success story.
Some of my friends argue that sustainable agriculture itself
to survive needs small farms and small farmers. How true that is, we shall see
in coming weeks.
While the Government of India is busy “bringing green
revolution to Eastern India”, It is best that Eastern India learns from such
models that leverage on its strengths than copying the mistakes of elsewhere.
One sincerely wishes that the Odisha government, which is making the right
noises about organic agriculture, seriously scales up initiatives like this and
takes up organic farming promotion meticulously and successfully.
For more information on Chetna Organic, visit http://chetnaorganic.org.in/ ;
9959300330
Ananthoo- Food and organic
farming activist, runs a volunteer- run, not-for-profit organic outlet called
‘reStore’ in Chennai; is co- convener of ASHA- Alliance for Sustainable and
Holistic Agriculture and coordinator of Safe Food Alliance, TN. mail: restoreananthoo@gmail.com
posted by Ananthoo @ 6:03 PM
1 comments
